Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Monochromatic Designs

While most people can name their favorite color(s) without giving it more than a few seconds thought, for me that can be a hard question to answer. I love color. All of it.

I spent some time this weekend creating cards with a Monochromatic color scheme. The dictionary definition of Monchromatic is: containing or using only one color. A more in depth study of color would reveal that it would include all tints (created by adding white), shades (created by adding black) and tones (created by adding grey) of the pure hue. A great basic lesson in color can be found at Tiger Color. 
 
Here are the cards I created:

Papers: Recollections, Michael's Crafts 
Sentiment: StampinUp – Image: My clip art collection. 


 Papers: Recollections, Michael's Crafts - Sentiment/Image: StampinUp
 Edge Punch: EK Success


Papers: Recollections, Michael's Crafts & DCWV 
Image/Punch: StampinUp

 Papers: Recollections, Michael's Crafts - Sentiment: Hero Arts
Image: My Clip Art Collection

Papers: Recollections, Michael's Crafts & DCVW -
Image: Dover Publications Clip Art


If you find creating a Monochromatic design an intimidating or confusing challenge here is my suggestion: Choose your main color first (you'll most likely base your color choice on your image if you're using one on your card), then go through your supplies and gather as much as possible in your selected color. Papers, Ink, Ribbon, Embellishments. Remember that you'll want elements in a full range of tints, shades and tones of your chosen color. You may also wish to include one neutral color like ivory, tan or white to help you create some nice contrast and draw attention to your focal point. Now you can pretty much choose from everything in front of you with ease and the result will be a beautiful, monochromatic design.

Happy Crafting Everyone!
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10 comments:

Unknown said...

Beautiful cards and good tips.

Donna Hanley said...

Paula, I really like all of your cards today. Each one is special in it's own way. I love all of the choices that you made. Thank You for sharing.

Jen M said...

Beautiful cards and thanks for the suggestions! I always admire your creations.

airbornewife said...

wonderful cards Paula... I've never made any monochromatic cards.. looks like it's something I definitely need to try. thanks for the inspiration. ~ Pam

Shauna said...

Great cards! I love the red card {I'm a sucker for anything red}.

Jan Hunnicutt said...

Beautiful cards, thanks so much for helping out on the OWH blog for our challenge. I think defining Monochromatic is a good idea too :) Thanks for playing in our challenge at Operation Write Home!

helloholley said...

These are all so wonderful.....you are always doing wonderful cards though....so I'm not surprised!!!;)

Dixie Cochran said...

I'm with you, Paula. Choosing a favorite color is difficult. Your cards are so well done. Thanks for the tips on creating a monochromatic card. I'll give it a try!

Cut n Paste said...

Beautiful...all of them! Thanks for the tips also.

Carol L said...

I'll make note of your tips for creating monochromatic cards, but honestly I've never made one I've been happy with, so I just don't do them :) Yours are all wonderful, and clearly you can do them with ease:)

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